Neila Barriga '27 Recruiting Profile

I love ice hockey; all I’ve ever known was ice hockey. Ever since I was 5/6 my biggest goal in life was to play ice hockey in the NHL. As I got older, I realized it’s not quite possible for a female to play in the NHL so instead I started focusing on college and playing on team USA. Now that I’m 14 I started to focus mainly on college, ever since I was little, I wanted to go to the University of Notre Dame mainly because half my family loves Notre Dame but also because whenever I go to the campus it kind of feels like home or that I belong there. The only problem I had with that goal was they don’t have D1 women’s ice hockey. My top colleges now are the University of Wisconsin, University of Minnesota, University of Michigan, and Ohio State.

I think I’d be a good candidate for their team because I’m willing to do whatever it takes for my team and whenever I make a mistake, I try to make up for it. I also don’t take "no" as an answer and I don’t give up when I really want something. I’m a very determined person and when it comes to my team, I’m willing to do whatever it takes to help/protect them, I treat my team like their family.

What makes me different from other recruits is that I try to stay as humble as possible. Ever since my baby brother was born, I saw the world differently. My baby brother was born with a spinal cord injury and got everything taken from him. I realized that I should be a lot more grateful for what I have. My brother loves hockey a lot. I sometimes help him out with sled hockey here and there, but I know I’d give anything to have him play hockey. So, for me to play college hockey will not only make me proud of myself but I think my little brother would find it amazing. I also try to make sure I take any chance I get and make sure I put all my effort into it. When it comes to academics, I’m willing to do anything and everything to make sure I have good grades and I don’t accept failure I try my best on everything I get in school and make sure I study when I can, I also make sure I get extra practice or work from my teachers to make sure I know what we’re working on and how to do it correctly.